Water in the Asteroid Belt: Main Belt Comet Discovery, Characterization, and Modeling

居住在主小行星带区域的彗星是最近才发现的；截至2009年底，已知的只有4个。这个项目是为了大大增加已知主带彗星（MBCs）的数量，表征它们的旋转状态、颜色和反射特性，并对它们的表面对加热和冷却的响应进行物理建模。博士后研究人员将与PI一起完成软件的开发，该软件将在Pan STARRS 1巡天望远镜（PS1）的数据中识别MBCs。在PS1运营的前三年，预计将发现数百个MBCs。该团队将通过其他各种光学望远镜观测PS1的探测结果，以获得旋转速率、极点方向、颜色和相位函数；并将开发包含轨道动力学、旋转、太阳辐照、孔隙度、挥发性扩散和相位变化的热模型。一些后续观察将由夏威夷之星（HISTARS）外展计划的中学生和高中生进行。这项工作的科学成果将有助于了解小行星带冰的演变和太阳系中水的运输，特别是地球上水的起源。

Comets that inhabit the region of the Main Asteroid Belt are a recent discovery; as of the end of 2009, only 4 were known. This project is an effort to greatly increase the number of known Main Belt Comets (MBCs), to characterize their rotation states, colors, and reflectance properties, and to physically model the response of their surfaces to heating and cooling. Postdoctoral researchers, along with the PI, will complete the development of software that will identify MBCs in data from the Pan STARRS 1 survey telescope (PS1). In the first 3 years of PS1 operations, hundreds of MBCs are expected to be discovered. The team will follow up the PS1 detections with observations on various other optical telescopes to obtain rotation rates, pole orientations, colors, and phase functions; and will develop thermal models that incorporate orbital dynamics, rotation, solar irradiation, porosity, volatile diffusion, and phase changes. Some of the follow-up observations will be performed by middle- and high-school students in the Hawaii-Stars (HISTARS) outreach program. The scientific products of this work will contribute to the understanding of the evolution of ices in the asteroid belt and the transport of water in the Solar System, and in particular the origin of water on Earth.